Wizard Books press release:

GREAT NEWS FOR ALL FANS OF THE LEGENDARY FIGHTING FANTASY? GAMEBOOKS

IAN LIVINGSTONE, CO-CREATOR OF THE MULTI-MILLION SELLING GAMEBOOK SERIES, HAS WRITTEN A NEW BOOK ? HIS FIRST IN TEN YEARS

WIZARD BOOKS WILL PUBLISH EYE OF THE DRAGON IN APRIL 2005

Fighting Fantasy? was the children?s books phenomenon of the 1980s. Over 15 million copies were sold, and authors Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson became heroes to hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide (mainly boys aged 8 ? 12). Fighting Fantasy gamebooks were the original interactive books in which YOU the reader were the hero. Misunderstood at first, there was some controversy in the media as parents were concerned that their children were too obsessed with role-playing. Now twenty years on there has been a resurgence in the genre. Wizard Books launched new editions in 2002 and have since sold over 800,000 books. Many thirty-something men still remember the excitement of Livingstone?s and Jackson?s adventures and are now buying them for their own children!

A BRAND NEW FIGHTING FANTASY ADVENTURE

Now Wizard Books are to publish a brand new Fighting Fantasy? adventure, written by Ian Livingstone. It is called Eye of the Dragon and is his first new book in 10 years.

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | A child in time

A S Byatt on J M Barrie...

Recommended

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | Author of the month: Meg Cabot

Dina Rabinovitch interviews Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries:

"Although it was British publishers who first took on The Princess Diaries, the back current of Cabot's stories really make better sense to American sensibilities. She writes about girls, who, like herself, weren't cheerleader types, preferred black clothes to pristine Abercrombie and Fitch, and were into art, drama and music instead of schoolwork."

TURNING POINT
Saturday November 27th, Nottingham

A one day conference devoted to the subject of teenage/YA writing will consist of a series of discussions including What Is Young Adult Fiction? The condition of the ?issue? novel, Reviewing and promoting YAF and The Future. There will be a keynote speech from Melvin Burgess, the author of Junk and Doing It. The other writers speaking will be David Belbin, Kevin Brooks, Anne Cassidy, Keith Gray, Graham Marks, Nicola Morgan, Beverley Naidoo and Bali Rai. Academic Alison Waller, Publicist Justin Somper, Guardian Children?s Books editor and David Fickling (publisher and editor of Mark Haddon and Philip Pullman) will also be bringing their perspective to the day. Many other writers ? some very distinguished - have booked as delegates and will speak from the floor.

Full price tickets are ?35 plus ?6.12 VAT. Students in full time education pay ?25 plus ?4.37 VAT. Prices include lunch. Turning Point is aimed at those writing and promoting YAF , rather than its core audience, so tickets are not on sale to under 18s.

Conference admin/press ticket enquiries ? Simon Dawes simon.dawes@ntu.ac.uk Tel. 0115 8483273

Further comment/interview requests ? David Belbin david.belbin@ntu.ac.uk

INDEPENDENT: Enjoyment

Philip Kerr on tour in America...:

...nothing prepared me for the rigours of a three-week tour of the United States, as a first-time children's author. Three weeks without uttering a single profanity and without once getting drunk; three weeks of politeness and diplomacy that would have exhausted Kofi Annan.

The first thing I noticed about Scholastic, who specialise in publishing children's books (they publish JK Rowling in America) is how nice they all are. How nice and how enthusiastic. Such a pleasant change from the glum old world of adult publishing where booksellers moan about point of sale (or more likely the lack of it), and editors and marketing people regard you with shifty indifference - as if it must have been someone else's bright idea to have you read to several rows of empty seats and a lost dog at some dismal bookshop in St Albans. Everyone in children's books is smiling.

Terry Pratchett interview, from the Sunday Times:

?Look at this,? he says, gesturing to a lectern that holds an ancient tome from Discworld?s university of magic. Light sparkles along its edges and pulses beneath the parchment pages. It is a gift from his publisher on the 21st anniversary of Discworld this year.

Terry Pratchett proudly shows his interviewer the book and lectern presented to him at a recent London event (see entry for September 29th)

Lemony left out

Handler's editor at HarperCollins Children's Books, Susan Rich, says she and the author aren't eager to damage "the integrity" of the series by keeping it going beyond its scheduled life expectancy of 13 books.

Feature about Daniel Handler

Recommended

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | England's time lord

Long feature about Alan Garner.

Not to be missed!

Puffin held a celebration party last night, in honour of Philippa Pearce, who has just published The Little Gentleman, her first full-length fiction for twenty years. Illustrated by Patrick Benson, who could not be at the event, it is a wonderfully written story about a girl's friendship with a mole, who has been given the power of speech and the mixed blessing of immortality. The author, now in her eighties, stayed late at the party, signing books for guests.

Philippa Pearce speaking...

BBC NEWS | UK | England | North Yorkshire | Author burns original manuscripts

Best-selling children's novelist, GP Taylor has accidentally burnt three of his original manuscripts while clearing his house before moving... ...

Chronicles Part 1 by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan's eagerly-awaited first volume of autobiography is mainly about his early days in New York City, as a young folksinger just arrived from the MidWest. Strikes me it would make great teen reading. School librarians should stock several copies - as should they also of the new edition of his Lyrics:

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | The accidental realist

The accidental realist

Edith Nesbit rejected Victorian silliness about childhood and conjured magical worlds that were as solid and chaotic as everyday life. Natasha Walter celebrates a 'genuine Bohemian' in The Guardian...

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Talents of underachieving boys identified in survey

Government policies to help underachieving boys who fall behind in reading and writing at primary school have been influenced by misleading stereotypes which label them reluctant, resistant or weak and even unteachable, a new report claims today.

Childrens Book Festival 2004 - childrens' book festival Dublin - kids events in Dublin

The Irish Children's Book Festival 2004 will be launched on October 13th....

More...

Guardian Unlimited | Arts features | Off the shelf

Guardian Author of the month: Jacqueline Wilson

More than a week old (I can't think why I failed to blog it at the time) but - as you would expect of Davina Rabinovitch's monthly profiles - superbly, revealingly and slightly disturbingly worth reading.

I said I was behind with my trawl through the weekend press. And I have only just reached FTWeekend, the Arts and Books supplement of the Financial Times.
In it is a fantastically entertaining and near-the-knuckle feature about authors' school visits - a sequence of authors' own witty and scarily honest thoughts on the said subject.
The feature is online, but you have to take out a hefty FT subscription to view it.

So, a few snippets:

PHILIP PULLMAN: ...what really happens and what the teacher would like us to tell the children: the latter being a description of the writing process that uncannily resembles the literacy guidelines the teacher has to follow (plan, draft, edit, revise ...) I used to do that, but it was too depressing.

ANTHONY HOROWITZ: ...It's a strange phenomenon, anyway. There are dozens of authors and illustrators out there, descending on schools all over the country in the guise of slightly sinister travelling salesmen or party entertainers. I've never been quite sure who actually benefits... ...

MICHAEL ROSEN: The best sessions are where...[I confess this extraction is somewhat cruel] the school makes what is almost a shrine to Michael Rosen, with photos, quotes, my life story, what I like to eat and, on occasion, even a photo of Arsenal FC.

LOUISE RENNISON: I eschew school visits with a firm hand...

MALORIE BLACKMAN: [in verse]
"I sent in my invoice. I hope that you got it."
"Ah... Er, there's a problem I'm afraid we forgot it. Wait for eight months and we'll happily pay.
Let's not talk about money. Let's just have a good day!"

Very Highly recommended.

deseretnews.com | An eye for detail — Children's author/illustrator Jan Brett says life is about the possibilities

ic Wales - Like children, book event is growing

Swansea's children's literature festival...

No online link for this, but worth checking out:

PUBLISHING NEWS - in the latest issue Graham Marks "looks at how three independent spirits in children's publishing have succeeded by creating boutique lists" - the three are Klaus Flugge (Andersen Press), David Fickling (David Fickling Books) and Barry Cunningham (The Chicken House) and there are some good quotes from Philip Pullman and Philippa Dickinson.

P.S. Am behind in my trawl of the weekend press so there may be a belated link or two to come.

The Alien Online - Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror News, Reviews, Articles and more...

Adult Fantasy/SF author James Lovegrove is planning to write a YA novel:

I've written a synopsis for a Young Adult book, and I'm waiting to hear from an editor as to whether that's a "go" project.

A curious future without wizards - Books - www.theage.com.au

A rare feature article about Odo Hirsch.

Hirsch is a slight, guarded man dressed in bank manager weekend clothes - crisp jeans, polo, blazer. His youthful, sober face is partially hidden behind a well-trimmed five o'clock beard. He's never been an easygoing interview subject and is quite secretive about his personal life. But the strangest thing about Odo Hirsch is that he exists at all. The name is a pseudonym, pulled out of the ether in the late '90s by an expatriate Australian doctor working in an English hospital.

Highly recommended

Sequential Tart: Article - J. R. R. Tolkien and Magic in Fantasy Literature: Unsafe at Any Speed? (vol VII/iss 10/October 2004)

New Storefront

Our new storefront is launched today, which allows you to do all your Amazon shopping without leaving the ACHUKA website until you are ready for checkout. You have the option of shopping from the UK, US or German branches of Amazon.

ACHUKASTORE has been designed as a discrete area of the ACHUKA website, so that those who do not use Amazon for their purchases can ignore it. ACHUKA's own featured items pages will continue.

ACHUKASTORE is in the early stages of development. We look forward to feedback and suggestions for improving the shopping experience.

When you're in the store and wish to return to the main ACHUKA site, just click ACHUKACHICK...

www.achuka.co.uk/amstore